Bengaluru, Sep 21: Colonel Vikram Singh Malik is a retired army officer. At the same time he is a shot put coach too. It was hardly known by the country’s sports lovers till last week. But, now Vikram is famous for his student’s phenomenal success in the recently concluded Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

His wife Dipa Malik is his student for whom Vikram had taken voluntary retirement six months before Rio Paralympics. The reason was simple. Vikram wanted to have such an intensive training for his wife and student that he said, "I had no alternative way than taking the retirement. Otherwise, Deepa would not have been able to take the preparation that was needed to achieve something in an event like Olympics."

Deepa Malik with her Rio Paralympics silver medal

Yes, Deepa has been the first female Indian athlete to have acquired silver from Rio Paralympics in shot put.

Vikram, speaking over phone from his Gurgaon residence on Tuesday (September 19), said, "Being paralysed from the waist totally for last 17 years and being dependant completely sitting on the wheelchair, it was not easy for Deepa to continue training.

"In shot put you need to have momentum while moving and throwing it. So you must have the required strength of your legs. In Deepa's case she cannot stand. So she has to garner the total strength from her hands. And even, sitting on the wheelchair she cannot move for a inch! If she moves while throwing the shot put she will be disqualified immediately in any international tournament. So, whatever training she did was special.”

Deepa along with her coach-cum-husband had trained within the complex of their residential colony at Gurgaon.

And Vikram revealed, "In a bid to gain strength she used throw five shot puts of five different categories. All were heavier than the normal one which she threw in the Rio. This apart, I had appointed a personal female physical trainer and dietitian for her who had worked with her in the gym for around last three months before Rio."

At the same time, Deepa’s diet was measured by a dietitian heavily. Vikram informed, "After coming back from Rio, Dipa now has again started taking the food items she likes very much. For last five months it was completely stopped."